Battle of Xiaopei (198)

The Battle of Xiaopei was fought in 198 AD when Cao Cao and Liu Bei's armies invaded Xu Province to vanquish the rebellious warlord Lu Bu, whose strategist Chen Gong had intercepted a letter from Cao Cao to Liu Bei which called for Lu Bu to be slain. Lu Bu's forces successfully defeated Cao Cao's massive army (Xiahou Dun losing his eye to an arrow in the process) and captured Xiaopei from Liu Bei, who lost touch with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as he went into hiding.

Lu Bu and Yuan Shu
In 196 AD, Han regent and Prime Minister Cao Cao sent a letter to Xu Province Governor Liu Bei confirming him as Governor and secretly asking him to execute Lu Bu, who had fled into exile at his court after his defeat at Cao Cao's hands a year earlier. When Liu Bei refused, Cao Cao sent him a forged imperial edict instructing him to campaign against the imperial pretender Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu attempted to ally with Lu Bu through a marriage between his son Yuan Yin and Lu Bu's daughter Lu Lingqi, and, while Lu Bu initially agreed, he reneged on the deal after discovering that Yuan Shu sought to proclaim himself Emperor, sending his envoy Han Yin to Cao Cao for execution. This led to war between Yuan Shu and Lu Bu in addition to his concurrent wars with Liu Bei and Cao Cao, but Lu Bu also betrayed Liu Bei and took over Xu Province from him after Liu Bei's sworn brother Zhang Fei angered him by stealing his horses. Liu Bei fled to Cao Cao's court and was made Governor of Yu Province, and Cao Cao promised to aid him against Lu Bu. However, after Lu Bu defeated a retaliatory invasion of Xu Province by Yuan Shu's army, Cao Cao decided to make Lu Bu a general to win his loyalty. Cao Cao then decided to form a coalition of warlords to destroy the pretender Yuan Shu, allying with Liu Bei, Lu Bu, and the southern warlord Sun Ce (Yuan Shu's former protege). They assembled an army of 170,000 troops and conquered Shouchun, Yuan Shu's main base, forcing him to flee south of the Huai River with the remnants of his defeated army. With Yuan Shu defeated, Cao Cao became one of the most powerful warlords in China, and Cao Cao pacified his northern neighbor Yuan Shao by appointing him Governor of four regions and promising aid should he move to finish off Gongsun Zan. In Chang'an, Dong Zhuo's former generals Li Jue and Guo Si were assassinated by their subordinates Duan Wei and Wu Xi and their families massacred, and Cao Cao promoted the two killers to generals. Finally, he defeated Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao at the Battle of Anzhong, securing his western border.

Plot against Lu Bu
With his northern and western borders secure, Cao Cao now focused on eliminating his old rival Lu Bu, who was still in control of Xu Province. Lu Bu was unaware of Cao Cao's schemes, as he felt secure with his nominal alliance with Cao Cao and Liu Bei. He expelled his advisor Chen Gong from his inner circle after Chen Gong suggested that his other advisors Chen Deng and Chen Gui were plotting against him (in fact, they were spies for Cao Cao), as he felt that Chen Gong was slandering good people. Chen Gong went to hunt near Xiaopei one day when he intercepted a messenger and stole his letter; it was the secret reply to Cao Cao's letter from Liu Bei. The letter read that Liu Bei would ready his army and prepare its weapons as Cao Cao's main body invaded Xu Province to help Liu Bei finish off Lu Bu, who alternated between being his ally and enemy. Lu Bu was alarmed and betrayed, and he had the messenger executed and prepared countermoves.

Siege of Xiaopei
Lu Bu sent Chen Gong and Zang Ba to enlist the help of the Black Mountain Bandits leaders Sun Guan, Wu Dun, Yin Li, and Chang Xi in order to take Yan Province, while Gao Shun and Zhang Liao went to attack Liu Bei in Xiaopei and Song Xian and Wei Xu went to attack Runan and Yingchuan. Liu Bei's kinsman Jian Yong informed Cao Cao about Liu Bei's situation, and Liu Bei commanded the south gate of Xiaopei, Sun Qian commanded the north gate, Guan Yu the west gate, and Zhang Fei the east gate. Mi Zhu and Mi Fang guarded Liu Bei's family in the center of the city. Zhang Fei forced Zhang Liao to withdraw after he launched a failed attack on the city, but Liu Bei forbade Zhang Fei from pursuing him.

March of Cao Cao
Meanwhile, Cao Cao was assured by his strategist Xun You that Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu were too recently defeated to move against him as he marched into Xu Province, and he warned Cao Cao of the possibility of Lu Bu joining forces with Yuan Shu. Cao Cao prepared an army of 50,000 troops under Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Lu Qian, and Li Dian, with Jian Yong commanding the rear, and they marched into Xu Province. Lu Bu sent Hou Cheng, Cao Xing, and He Meng with 200 cavalry to assist Gao Shun in holding off Cao Cao's reinforcing army, and Lu Bu's main army followed them closely.

Battle with Xiahou Dun
Xiahou Dun's division of Cao Cao's army was the first to enter battle, facing off with Gao Shun's force. Xiahou Dun defeated Gao Shun in a duel, and, while pursuing the fleeing Gao Shun, he was ambushed by Cao Xing, who shot him in the left eye with an arrow. Xiahou Dun refused to throw away his eye, instead plucking the arrow and eye out and eating his own eye. Xiahou Dun then charged at the terrified general and slew Cao Xing. Xiahou Dun then retreated back to his own army, with Gao Shun pursuing him and winning the day. Xiahou Yuan protected his elder brother's retreat, and Lu Qian and Li Dian encamped at Jibei. Gao Shun then marched back to join Lu Bu and Zhang Liao in attacking Liu Bei at Xiaopei.

Attack on Liu Bei
Gao Shun and Zhang Liao headed out to attack Guan Yu as Lu Bu attacked Liu Bei, and Lu Bu attacked Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's rear forces and routed them. Liu Bei rushed back to Xiaopei with the remnants of his army, closely pursued by Lu Bu; he was so closely pursued that the gate archers refused to fire on Lu Bu lest they hit their own lord, and Lu Bu and his forces charged into the city. Liu Bei was forced to abandon his family and flee the city, and Mi Zhu convinced Lu Bu to not harm Liu Bei's family; Lu Bu, an old friend of Liu Bei, agreed to send them to Xuzhou alongside Mi Zhu. Sun Qian, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei also escaped to the hills, losing contact with Liu Bei. Liu Bei was miserable, thinking that he had lost his brothers and family, and a hunter named Liu An killed his wife to feed the starving Liu Bei with her flesh. As Liu Bei headed towards Liangcheng, however, he saw Cao Cao's army approach, and Cao Cao sent the hunter 100 ounces of silver after tearfully discovering Liu Bei's misfortunes.